Janáček: Glagolitic Mass, Sinfonietta, Taras Bulba & The Fiddler’s Child

Decca

Over two excellent CDS, this posthumous release of recordings by the late Jirí Belohlávek and the Czech Philharmonic presents some of Janáček’s most striking orchestral works in blazing, life-affirming light. The key work here is his Glagolitic

Mass – it was Belohlávek’s first and only recording of it with this orchestra – featuring the Prague Philharmonic Choir and soloists Hibla Gerzmava, Veronika Hajnova, Stuart Neill and Jan Martiník, with Ales Barta on organ. There is a gripping rawness, both in the radiant vocal performances and the edgy, distinctive orchestral playing. But Belohlávek also plays on its expansiveness, moments of tenderness and overriding sophistication. There are steely performances, too, of the sun-ripe Sinfonietta, the macabre Fiddler’s

Child and the high octane Taras Bulba.